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Cauldarion Knight Corps
The Cauldarion Knight Corps operate under the Gauss Dominion Planetary Marines branch. However their order is not subject to the standard training given to planetary marines and is species specific only to Cauldarions. Instead their training was steeped in Cauldarion tradition and then extended to incorporate more modern combat. Though the Cauldarion people were among the lowest populations in the Gauss Dominion, they possessed among the highest per-capita service within the military, because of their extremely warrior-like and honor bound culture; with about one in three of all living Cauldarions being in active military service. Training Cauldarion Knights would frequently begin their training at a young age, as it was the dream of nearly every young Cauldarion boy to become a honorable knight and bring honor to his house and family. Most houses would only train male knights however a handful of houses would train female knights. The training would begin very traditionally, often at a very young age; with martial arts and physical conditioning and moving into armed melee combat. This training was highly ceremonial and traditionalist though also very practical for engaging in melee combat. This training was meant to help them to function when representing their house in a ceremonial Yah Habanbaraka and upon completion were certified to participate in one. Code of Honor The Cauldarion Knights followed a code of honor, of which all knights were sworn to abide by. * Cauldarion Knights are not to kill surrendered opponents, or civilians or to inflict unnecessary pain or torture. * Cauldarion Knights are to remain loyal to their house first and the gauss dominion second. * Cauldarion Knights prefer straight honest fights and do not utilize stealth or asymmetric tactics. They dislike space combat, preferring ground combat where they can meet their opponents face to face. Battle Brothers Cauldarion Knights upon completing the first section would be paired with a battle brother (or in the rare cases of female knights being allowed, a battle sister). With this companion they would engage in battle together, and learn to fight alongside one another, having a highly developed connection to the other to the point that they could communicate without words and understand how one another might react in a particular combat situation, and to give them a companion which they could rely on and defend. This meant that Cauldarion knights were deployed in even numbers as these pairs would be deployed side by side. These battle brothers would have a relationship that was in many ways akin to that of a marital relationship, but separate; and similar expectations of loyalty and closeness within the relationships. Many battle brothers would go as far as to preform homosexual acts with their partner to further develop this closeness. This relationship was considered independent from their domestic life and any marital relationship that they may have held. If a Cauldarions' battle brother was to fall and they were to survive, they would not be allowed to receive another as this bonding process could only formally occur during the latter stages of training. This same rule would also apply to any marital relationship a Cauldarion held; in that if their partner was to die, they were not to take another one. Some of the specifics of the Cauldarion's code of honor and their rules regarding battle brothers varied quite a bit from house to house. With some houses allowing only battle brothers from the same houses, some houses allowing battle brothers from other houses and some houses banning battle brothers from the same houses. The rules would also vary from house to house regarding how the battle brothers were chosen, with some having a mentor choose these partnerships and some allowing the individuals to choose. Houses could also have varying viewpoints on allowing female and male knights to be bonded; and for a male-female pairing to consist of Cauldarions who were both a battle brother/battle sister pair and a civil married couple. All of these variations within the rules led the network and combinations of battle brothers to being quite tangled and complex. Advanced Training The traditional training in melee combat and martial arts, as well as learning and abiding by the code of honor was necessary to be recognized as a knight by their house, additional training was needed for any knight wishing to serve within the gauss dominion military. This training consisted of firearms and power armor training, as well as tactical training which would teach them how to work alongside the other military branches and other species cohesively. The training period took around 1-2 year as most of the physical conditioning and martial arts training overlapped with what they were already required to learn as a traditional knight; and with no augmentation being possible with Cauldarion biology, no second period of training was required. Cauldarions entering the armed forces would also learn Go'shii battle meditation. Some knights would choose to forge or manufacture their own armor and weapons, partaking in every step of the process from acquiring the metal ores and approved schematics, to forging the metals and assembling the complex computer systems. This gave them a personal attachment to the suit and allowed them to have full knowledge of its workings such that they could maintain it and repair damage on their own if need be. This tradition also helped to justify the usage of power armor and advanced weapons to the Cauldarions, who were typically opposed to advanced technology supplimenting their abilities, viewing it as a degradation of self. In producing one's own equipment it existed as an extension and product of themselves and therefore was fair game. However this tradition was not mandated; instead being a personal choice and knight could simply receive standard armor and weapons. Armor and Weapons Armor Just as the Go'shii Rangers would augment their natural speed and agility on the battlefield, Cauldarions possessed their own natural trait that their armor and equipment was meant to augment. Even out of armor Cauldarions were an incredibly tough species with bulletproof skin, redundant organs, nearly unbreakable bones and regenerative properties. Their armor was meant to exemplify this durability, as Cauldarion Knight armor was made of Muran and Olkar rather than the Mazunsium composite material common across nearly all dominion military hardware; though the body glove beneath the solid armor was nearly identical to that of a planetary marines' armor; albeit thicker. (This material could be found in the hulls of Relegator-Class Battle Cruisers, armoring key areas.) This alloy; a combination of these two rare metals needing to be combined and forged in a specific way to achieve its remarkable strength had long since been a traditional Cauldarion metalworking secret. Though the methods by which to manufacture this material were known to the wider dominion, these materials were more rare and in most instances the added weight and rarity of these materials was not seen as an agreeable trade-off for the increased durability they provided, as such the use of this material was an intentional doctrinal choice by the Knights. This combination of materials is far heavier than the Mazunsium composite, but its density and material strength are unparalleled, while retaining all of the advantages of being chemically, biologically and radiologically resistant, while being far more durable against both kinetic and plasma based weapons thanks to its thicker layering and stronger material strength. This armor was able to survive shots from Liquid Light guns and strikes from Hard Light blades, though taking these attacks would ablate the exterior, and forceful strikes were able to breach the armor. Kinetic weapons would often ricochet or only cause cosmetic damage. Very heavy duty kinetic weapons were needed to be effective against this armor. Anti infantry weapons, even of the armor piercing variety and anti material weapons were often largely ineffective. In order to stop the advance of knights, other factions frequently had to resort to the use of their dedicated anti-vehicle weaponry. Shaped charges and anti tank rockets could get through the armor. The thickest sections of the armor were the head and torso. As Cauldarions possessed regenerative abilities, knights could be recovered from battlefields, even those that had taken extremely grave wounds such as having lost limbs. These knights could be recovered and given several months of rest and lots of food they could regenerate damaged body parts and return to the battlefield within a year or two. However damage to the brain or vital organs could result in death. This was the reason for the unique, saucer shaped helmets. Though a far cry from traditional Cauldarion Knight helmets, the shape afforded maximum protection of the head (save for from directly above) and enabled it to ricochet powerful railgun slugs. The armor's downsides were self evident though. The armor was extremely heavy, weighing on average around 4 tons. (A similar suit constructed of Mazunsium composite would weigh about 800 kilograms). Though the armor's numerous micro-reactors and overcharged driver servos gave the wearer strength to move this armor and then some (A cauldarion, in armor could lift anywhere from 30-80 tons, depending upon the quality of the armor.) This weight made the armor slow, and restricted fine movements due to being an analogue system by default; with the only computers being additional sensors and communications equipment. (Though this analogue system meant the armor could continue to operate in spite of powerful electromagnetic pulses) The weight of this armor meant that drop ships could often not be filled to capacity with knights, as they would reach their maximum recommended load long before they were filled with knights. Cauldarions themselves were slow, however with slower reaction times than most other sentient species, and therefore did not see the restricted mobility as a problem. For this same reason, the armor could not make use of a Jet Pack as a jet pack able to lift a Cauldarion in standard gravity would be as large as the knight themselves, and then need to be armored itself such that it could not be easily destroyed, thus resulting in more weight and an even larger jet pack. Weapons OkMu 185mm Shield This heavy shield pattern was by far the most common amongst knights. 185mm thick Olkar-Muran alloy at its thickets point the shield could block weapons fire. When larger anti-vehicle weapons were brought to bear, it could be used as a sacrificial armor piece, taking a several rockets, liquid light shots or other high powered weapons before failing. The blast might leak through the shield, with shaped charges punching through it with streams of plasma, and heavily damage it, but it could act as spaced armor, putting an extra layer of protection between the knight and their enemy. Furthermore the shield had two spikes on the bottom. These were intended to allow it to be anchored into the ground. The shield itself weighed around a ton and further exemplified the extreme weight of Cauldarion Knights and the ensuing difficulty in deploying them. This shield had two circular hardpoints. In the upper point the knight would have their house sigil painted and in the lower hardpoint, the dominion's emblem. To represent their honor dedicated first to their house and second to the dominion. Hardlight Belt Axe This one-handed hardlight axe was a traditional Cauldarion weapon. A belt axe was so named such that it could be carried on ones belt. It served as a venerable one handed fighting weapon when used with a shield or ranged weapons. Hardlight Pole Axe This long two handed pole axe was another traditional Cauldarion weapon converted to the substrate of hard light. This two handed axe could be carried on the back, then removed and activated when melee combat arrived. Cauldarions were taught to prod and give long range swings to keep other opponents weilding hard light weapons out of range. The handle of these axes often had 1% Arsium content which made the handles immune to hard light strikes. Hardlight Greatsword A two-handed greatsword used by the female knights of House Humadari, this weapon was versatile and provided a lot of cutting area at the expense of some range. Larger and stronger male knights would sometimes use these weapons one handed. X1K Heavy Grenade This large grenade would be thrown overhand (like an American Football). When the center button was pressed, the endcaps would become sensitive to strong impacts. When properly thrown it would explode the moment it impacted, detonating with the explosive force of an artillery shell or small concussive nuclear device, easily able to threaten an entire squad of enemy soliders or flatten a city block. Caularion knights could throw these devices upwards of 250 meters. GCZ-Z10 Sidearm This heavy accelerator pistol was considered a sidearm by Cauldarion standards but as powerful as the primary armor piercing weapons of other infantry units. Its recoil and bulk were too great to be used effectively by other units, though Cauldarions in or out of armor could easily fire the weapons one-handed. MB-KC Rocket Repeater This specialized weapon, referred to as the "rocket rifle" was among the most common ranged weapons used by knights. Meant to dispatch other heavily armored foes or vehicles the rocket rifle fired a belt-fed stream of homing rockets at a rate of 60 rounds per minute. This belt could be contained in an ammo backpack, holding around 180 rounds. Some particularly aggressive Cauldarions would dual-weild these weapons as (although it was awkward) they could be held in one hand. GCZ-C11 Rotary Accelerator Cannon This Rotary cannon was a suppression weapon able to fire at 300 rounds per minute that could be effective against power armored foes. Like the rocket repeater it would be fed from an oversize ammo backpack containing 1200 2kg rounds. This weapon was however, highly inaccurate and gave it the nickname "the firehose" GCZ-C13 Anti-Material Accelerator Rifle This high powered rifle was among the most devastating weapons possessed by the knights. Akin to the unmounted and shortened gun of a main battle tank, the testament to this weapons power being that it could easily blow through the knights' own armor given the shot did not ricochet; the only weapon in the knights' arsenal guaranteed to penetrate the armor.